Making the most of The Great Outdoors:- Cycling- Backpacking- Walking- Camping and Caravanning
in 'Eva the Eriba' my Eriba Touring Troll 540.
Travelling at the Speed of Life because everyday is a holiday...........

Tuesday, 5 September 2017

Four Days at Theobalds......

After our quick visit to St Neots the next on our list was Theobalds Park at Enfield and just a few hundred yards from the M25...Now those of you who know me well will also know that I try to keep away from London but this was a special visit to meet up with my old friends Gideon and Angie who this season have been HSA's (Holiday Site Assistants) based at the site.....Both Anne and myself were pleasantly surprised with the site....although very close to the 'road to hell' (M25) the site itself has a very rural feel to it and as per C&CC standards everything is kept very neat and tidy and the toilet facility block is first class....During our visit as you would expect we shared a couple of evenings with Gideon and Angie sampling a few beers and other drinks and sharing tales of camp life and the various people we have met and places we have visited.One of the places that Anne and I found less than a mile from the site was Myddleton House Gardens. This was a real gem of a find made all the sweeter by the fact that entry was free.Anne and I enjoyed a nice lunch here followed by a few hours wandering around the very attractive gardens.....Here are some images of just a little of what we saw....

Free Entry- Always a bonus.

Years ago this was the Market Cross in Enfield but has been moved to the gardens.

Lot's of Lovely Pears....

A view of the house.

We really enjoyed our four nights stay at Theobalds Park and it was great to meet up with Gideon and Angie again.They finish their seasons contract at the end of October and in early November they will be off to Spain and Portugal for the winter...We won't see them again until next April when they will be based at the Verwood site in Dorset for the 2018 season which is where we have now re-located to for the next four weeks....Monday morning saw us pulling out of the campsite and heading on to the M25 and then the M3 for our journey down to Dorset.....

*Steve A*The standard Eriba Troll has a MTPLM as you say of 1200kg ( 2646lb). Ours was uprated at the factory to a MTPLM of 1300kg (2866lb) which increases our payload to 320kg. This is a useful increase when fulltiming.

Any kind of Eriba is rare in the USA. Our closest equivalent appears to be the Scamp trailer. Our Subaru could tow any of the 13 foot Scamps. The 16 footers would be borderline. For weekend use, I'm torn between the ones with a front sofa and NO bathroom or the ones with the typical tiny and almost useless bathrooms. Luckily, there's a place we can rent one, though it probably won't happen soon. At this point, I'm glad we got a trailer hitch when we purchased the car. It ain't only for the bikes that I watch YOUR blog!

*Steve A*My Troll has an overall length of 18ft 10inches... We have a dinette at the pointed end with two long bench seats at the rear which can double as two single beds or makeup into a large double bed... In the middle of the unit we have the kitchen on one side and a compact washroom on the other side. The shower in the washroom IS useless due to the small space but the sink and the toilet are both useful and very useable. The use of space in what is after all quite a small caravan (camping trailer) is quite remarkable.... Nice to know that you visit the blog for more than just the bike talk Steve :-)

Hi Trevor-The garden is a treasure to look at and visit.I have a photo similar to your #1 with the bench.I will share it sometime.I like the concept of 'free entrance' when it is affordable for the owners.Best to you and Ann.Cheers,Chandra

During further research, I learned of "shower tents." One of our Ocean Shores RVs has one set up. It offers useful shower space while not hogging valuable interior room. It is doubly nice in that it need only be set up if the camping area doesn't offer ishowers. Look on Amazon under shower tent. Our local shower tent resides on a lot that people camp on for much of the summer.

*Steve A*Seems a useful additional bit of kit Steve...Mind you since we have been back in Dorset you only need stand outside for a minute or two in order to get a full soaking such has been the wet weather we've had.....